San Juan de Miraflores is one of the pueblos nuevos, or new towns, that have been formed by the massive numbers of people moving from other towns of Metropolitan Lima (such as Miraflores, Surquillo, La Victoria, among others) and from the countryside. Basically, people who were from the capital could afford building their new houses, actually , back in the early 60's, SJM was mostly a desertic area. SJM, is divided in zones ("A", "B", "C", "D", "E" and "K") In the early 80's people from Cuzco, Ayacucho, Pasco, and many of the other departments that were under the attack of terrorists, chose SJM and Villa el Salvador as their new home. As new residents were coming into SJM, two new zones were created: Pamplona Alta and Pamplona Baja. This name was taken in honor of some of the Spanish missionaries (who were from Pamplona, Spain) who offered their help to the residents.

Today the houses are a hodgepodge of building materials, most in a state of continual construction as residents can afford each additional brick. Most have access to electricity, but many still lack running water or plumbing. In just the last couple of years the mayor of Lima has launched an extremely successful program to build concrete staircases "escaleras" into the hillsides, replacing the treacherous paths and dramatically improving the living conditions of residents. These staircases are distinctively painted yellow, with bright blue signs, and neighborhood residents are hired by the city to build them.